Ursula is a character who appears in ABC's fantasy series Once Upon a Time. She is one of Poseidon's daughters from Greek mythology, as well as a former member of the Queens of Darkness.
She is based on the character of the same name from Disney's 1989 film The Little Mermaid.
Background[]
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- Mermaid/Cecaelia Physiology: Ursula was originally a mermaid, but after losing her siren call to Captain Hook, she stole Poseidon's Trident and used it to become a sea creature known as Cecaelia, a half-woman, half-octopus hybrid. As a sea creature, Ursula possesses superhuman attributes.
- Aquapathy: Ursula is capable of understanding and communicating with other aquatic creatures, albeit only with the sentient creatures.
- Siren Call: As with all mermaids, Ursula's voice is magical in nature, manifested as a glowing orb in her throat, and is capable of emitting an immensely beautiful angelic voice and allows her to talk underwater.
- Magic: As the daughter of Poseidon and a sea witch, Ursula is a powerful magic user. Her specialty is thalassomancy (ocean magic/sea magic).
- Transfiguration: Ursula is able to change the physical aspect of herself and/or others.
- Dimensional travel: Ursula is able to travel from between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest using the ocean.
- Potioncraft: As a witch, Ursula has the ability to create liquid substances for various purposes by combining a set of ingredients.
- Atmokinesis: It was also implied that Ursula was capable of manipulating water and generating storms.
History[]
Before the First Curse[]
Ursula in the fourth season of Once Upon a Time.
Ursula appeared as one of the main antagonists in the second half of the fourth season, played by actress Merrin Dungey while Tiffany Boone played the young Ursula. She made her season four debut in the episode "Heroes and Villains". She was originally a mermaid princess and the daughter of King Poseidon, named after the original sea goddess. Her back-story is similar to Ariel (from the movie) because she had a beautiful singing voice and lost her mother who had been killed by a pirate. Her father developed a xenophobic grudge against humans and use the voice talent of Ursula to lure sailors to their doom. However, she refused to attack the Jolly Roger, saving Captain Hook and his crew. In grudge with her father, she steals a magic bracelet from his vault, allowing her to become human. She becomes a pub singer and befriended Hook. However, Hook had concluded a pact with Poseidon to trap her singing voice within an enchanted shell in exchange for squid ink, to neutralize his nemesis Rumplestiltskin. Instead, Ursula herself steals the ink from the vault for him just as her father arrives to take the procured item away.
Angered that the ink has been crushed, Hook removes her voice, so the King can never use her to sink another ship again. Betrayed and developing great hate against the human and her father, Ursula decided she no longer wanted to be a mermaid and used her father's trident to transform her fishtail into tentacles, becoming the Sea Witch. Later, Ursula is invited to the Forbidden Fortress by Rumplestiltskin, where she meets Cruella De Vil and Maleficent. Rumple used the three villainesses to get the Dark Curse, but the witches, in turn, had to face the Chernabog. Later, she becomes good friends with the two witches and the three became associates. They work together to steal a magical gauntlet from Rumplestiltskin, capable of revealing the weaknesses of their enemies. Once they learn this crucial information, they'll be able to come out on top, having had enough of constantly facing defeat. To do so, the villains kidnapped Rumple's servant, Belle, and held her for ransom.
Once Rumple arrived at the transaction point, Belle was covered in Ursula's tentacles to prevent her from escaping. Her grasp increased with time due to Rumple's hesitation, but once the Dark One handed over the gauntlet, Belle was released. Later, she, Cruella, and Maleficent ask for help from Snow White and Prince Charming in stopping the Evil Queen. But once their plan fails, Ursula asks if she can choke the duo with her tentacles, claiming that they are bored. She and Cruella remained Maleficent's primary associates (and somewhat henchmen) and guarded the cave in which Maleficent rested with her unborn child. After the baby is stolen by the heroes they previously worked with, Ursula and Cruella chase them down, where they end up being transported to the Land Without Magic, using the magic from the dragon egg containing the baby to stay young.
After the Second Curse[]
Many years later after the Dark Curse, Ursula was seen in the Land Without Magic working as an aquarium worker in New York feeding the fish there. Mr. Gold finds her (after being forced out of Storybrooke by Belle) and offers her a chance to get even with the heroes and find the Author. They then head out to find Cruella De Vil and Maleficent. Ursula and Mr. Gold find Cruella De Vil in Long Island. Upon using Mr. Gold's cellphone, Ursula and Cruella make a deal with Regina to let them into Storybrooke in exchange for info on how to defeat the Chernabog. After the Chernabog disappeared upon being thrown over the town line, Ursula and Cruella were invited into Storybrooke. Later that night, Ursula and Cruella get Mr. Gold back into Storybrooke and work to bring Maleficent back from the dead.
Ursula regains her singing voice.
But soon her intentions drift when she sees Hook in the forest so Ursula heads out to confront him, where he agrees to give back her singing voice so she can tell him about Mr. Gold's plans. Since the shell that trapped her voice is in the Enchanted Forest aboard the Jolly Roger, she uses a piece of the ship's rigging to open a portal and cross realms to bring the vehicle to Storybrooke's harbor. She succeeds, however, the ship arrives shrunken and encased in a bottle. From Will, it is restored to normal size with a magic essence. Below the ship deck, Hook gives Ursula the shell containing her singing voice, but she is unable to reabsorb it. Disappointed, she considers her happy ending is still impossible without the Author's help, causing her to void her deal with Hook, who pulls a gun on her. She easily knocks him out and throws him into the water before returning to the cabin.
There, she assaults Mary Margaret, who arrived with Emma and David to rescue August. As Ursula refuses to relent, Hook returns with her father, Poseidon, who can restore her voice since he originally enchanted the shell. Poseidon apologizes to Ursula for using her singing voice as a weapon, and he expresses regret over not cherishing her gift to honor her mother's memory. After regaining her voice, Ursula fully reconciles with her father and decides to go home with him. Before leaving, she tells Hook about Mr. Gold's scheme to dethrone Emma as savior and make her evil. As Ursula explains, Emma gave everyone their happy endings in this world, and once she is not the savior anymore, only then the Author can give the villains what they want.
Trivia[]
- Unlike her animated counterpart, this Ursula has a talent for singing, something she shares with all versions of Ariel. Also when Urusla gets her voice back, the tune she sings is the same one sung by Ariel when she gets her voice back at the end of the film.
- "Poor Unfortunate Soul" revealed that Ursula was once a mermaid like Ariel, and turned into an octopus after taking a dark turn. Ursula also learnt singing from her mother, similar to Ariel in the 1989 film.
